Appointment of CFO and Sale of Qosmos

RNS Number : 2315N

Draper Esprit PLC

24 October 2016

 

Strictly embargoed until 08.00: 24 October 2016

Draper Esprit plc

("Draper Esprit" or the "Company")

Appointment of Chief Financial Officer and Sale of Portfolio Company Qosmos

Draper Esprit (AIM: GROW, ESM: GRW), one of the leading venture capital firms involved in the creation, funding and development of high-growth digital technology businesses, is pleased to announce both the appointment of a new Chief Financial Officer ("CFO") and the sale of portfolio company Qosmos to ENEA, the NASDAQ and Stockholm listed global supplier of network software platforms and services.

CFO

The Company is delighted to announce that Benjamin Wilkinson has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer to the Management Board of the Company.

Mr Wilkinson is a senior finance executive and Chartered Accountant with extensive international experience in financial management, corporate finance and investment banking and most recently was the Chief Financial Officer at AIM-listed President Energy PLC.  Before his tenure at President Energy PLC, Mr Wilkinson worked at Levine Capital Management Advisors Ltd, a Private Investment Fund and held roles in Corporate Finance at ABN AMRO Bank/ Royal Bank of Scotland.

Commenting on the appointment of Ben Wilkinson, Simon Cook, Chief Executive, said: 

"Ben has extensive public company experience and a track record of delivering on strategic financial benchmarks. The recent IPO was transformational for Draper Esprit and we are confident that Ben's addition to the senior management team will help us continue to drive growth.  We are excited to have him on board and look forward to introducing him to our investors."

Sale of Portfolio Company QOSMOS to ENEA

The Company also today announces that ENEA, a leading global information technology company that provides real-time operating systems and consulting services, has signed an agreement to acquire portfolio company, Qosmos for a total cash consideration of approximately €52.7 million.  Qosmos is a supplier of Network Intelligence software based on Deep Packet Inspection and commands a dominating share of its market. Closing of the transaction is subject to approvals from French government authorities and is expected to be completed beginning December 2016.

The disclosed audited NAV of Draper Esprit's holding in Qosmos as at 30 April 2016 was £4.9 million (which reflects the valuation as at 31 December 2015 adjusted for Forex as set out in the Admission Document).  The amount received by Draper Esprit on completion of sale will be approximately £6 million with a further €1.9m expected in 24 months' time and consequently this will have a positive impact on the Company's overall Net Asset Value ("NAV").

Commenting on the sale Simon Cook added:

"We have achieved much since the IPO with a number of new investments and notably the Movidius and now Qosmos exits. Our NAV is, as planned, showing strong progression and we look forward to updating Shareholders in further detail next month at the time of our maiden Interim Results."

Draper Esprit will be announcing maiden Interim Results for the six months ended 30 September 2016 by the end of November 2016 and will give a further portfolio and NAV update at that time.

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Enquiries

Draper Esprit plc Simon Cook (Chief Executive Officer)	[phone]
Numis Securities Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker Alex Ham Richard Thomas Paul Gillam	[phone]
Goodbody Stockbrokers ESM Adviser & Joint Broker Don Harrington Linda Hickey Dearbhla Gallagher	[phone]
Belvedere Communications (PR) John West Kim van Beeck	[phone]

 

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